512MB GDDR or 256MB GDDR?

  • Thread starter Evolution.
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Evolution.

Evolution.

(Banned)
3,722
Alright, heres my dilemma.

I've found a couple of nice cards I can put into my system, BUT, the problem is: 256MB or 512MB of GDDR?

ATi Radeon X1600PRO 512MB GDDR2 Card

ATi Radeon X1600PRO 256MB GDDR2 Card

My main question is this: Will this, put with:

AMD Athlon 2.2 GHz Processor
1GB (2x 512MB) RAM

Play games like FarCry, F.E.A.R and BattleField 2 with optimal settings (not so much optimal for FEAR as much as the others)?. I really wish to know if it is worth my extra $25 to get 512MB of GDDR2 in the card since im buying 512MB of RAM so I'll have 1GB and a better video card. Would it be worth it to get the 512MB card?

(If you have another suggestion for the same price range, or little over, or a suggestion from NVidia, feel free to post, but keep in mind what games I'll be playing).
 
MachOne
How much of a bottleneck would the CPU be? A huge bottleneck or just a minor one?
Click to expand...
big, but not huge. Just make sure you have at the very least an Athlon64 3500+ or 3.0ghz p4. You'll see a difference going to saaay an Athlon FX, but it won't be massive - you'll still be getting awesme frame rates thanks to the vide card. If you jump from x1600 to x1800, you'll see a big frame rate jump.

Even if you don't have a freakishly fast cpu, you'll still get some good frame rates thanks to the video card. You'll suffer in your ability to handle more complex physics engines though

All that said, i doubt a 512mb x1600 will be a noticeable jump from the 256mb version. Especially when you're talking about getting an AGP card. Since the price difference is small, you might as well go up to the 512 meg one just to be able to set Doom 3 to the absolute maximum settings (requires 512mb of video memory)
 
emad
big, but not huge. Just make sure you have at the very least an Athlon64 3500+ or 3.0ghz p4. You'll see a difference going to saaay an Athlon FX, but it won't be massive - you'll still be getting awesme frame rates thanks to the vide card. If you jump from x1600 to x1800, you'll see a big frame rate jump.

Even if you don't have a freakishly fast cpu, you'll still get some good frame rates thanks to the video card. You'll suffer in your ability to handle more complex physics engines though

All that said, i doubt a 512mb x1600 will be a noticeable jump from the 256mb version. Especially when you're talking about getting an AGP card. Since the price difference is small, you might as well go up to the 512 meg one just to be able to set Doom 3 to the absolute maximum settings (requires 512mb of video memory)
Click to expand...

And hey, if for nothing else at the moment, 512 DOES sound better than 256 :)
 
Alright thanks for the input.

More is appreciated as always. But the CPU is only going to be a bottleneck on things like physics and stuff right? Will I still be able to run FarCry on at least High settings all around at 1024x768?

So basically, the consensus is 512 > 256 is what I should go with, right? $25 isn't a whole lot, but that $25 could be a new keyboard or towards a new sound card, or mayeb towards my Full version of HL2 or FarCry :D

And my motherboard is a bit out of date and im not looking forward to upgrading my mobo and CPU, I might as well buy a new computer if I do that.
 
MachOne
Alright thanks for the input.

More is appreciated as always. But the CPU is only going to be a bottleneck on things like physics and stuff right? Will I still be able to run FarCry on at least High settings all around at 1024x768?
Click to expand...
Absolutely - I do that on my old(ish) 6800GT w. 256Mb no problem...

And Yes, those who say that 256->512 won't make a big difference at the moment are spot on. Unless you go REALLY crazy on your resolution and use some insanely large textures - there won't be much (if even noticeable) performance hit...
 
I dont think this card will bottleneck his CPU. If i were you, i wouldnt get this card. Its terribly slow, and 512mb form doesnt help much. I know the X850xt doesnt have SM3.0, but it outruns this car by alot. If you really want SM3.0, get the X1800.
 
RobcioPL
I dont think this card will bottleneck his CPU. If i were you, i wouldnt get this card. Its terribly slow, and 512mb form doesnt help much. I know the X850xt doesnt have SM3.0, but it outruns this car by alot. If you really want SM3.0, get the X1800.
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Read: AGP 4x/8x.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130275

I was also thinking about this, but I'll need alot of birthday money. That, a new 350 W PSU and the RAM will be well over $400, probably around $450. I might just go with the 1600 512MB and the RAM which comes to about $250 with S&H. I'll be LUCKY if I get $450 in birthday money...heh.
 
Yeah, it's pretty impractical financially to be searching for a high performance AGP GPU at this point. For 360 bucks I'd just look at getting a new mobo with PCI-X support and saving for a card that will be worth the price later on in the future.
 
MachOne
I found it, but it is about $360 or so dollars. Compared to the 1600's price, that's ALOT.
Click to expand...

Yes but you get what you pay for. You can't pay little and get lots, it doesn't work that way.

A faster card with 256 is better than a slower card with 512.
 
donbenni
Yes but you get what you pay for. You can't pay little and get lots, it doesn't work that way.

A faster card with 256 is better than a slower card with 512.
Click to expand...

Yes but understand this:

I don't have a daily job. I'm not even 16. I can't get $350+ very quickly for just 1 item, and still have to scrounge up another $80 for RAM. If an X1600 will play games like Far Cry, F.E.A.R and HL2 on high settings, then it's fine for me. I don't feel like spending $430+ on RAM and a video card.

Now the X850 I saw in AGP isn't even on NewEgg anymore, so scratch that anyways.
 
Don't buy an expensive card then, I wasn't saying you had to. I was just saying that you shouldn't be surprised that you have to pay more for better cards.
 
MachOne
Yes but understand this:

I don't have a daily job. I'm not even 16. I can't get $350+ very quickly for just 1 item, and still have to scrounge up another $80 for RAM. If an X1600 will play games like Far Cry, F.E.A.R and HL2 on high settings, then it's fine for me. I don't feel like spending $430+ on RAM and a video card.

Now the X850 I saw in AGP isn't even on NewEgg anymore, so scratch that anyways.
Click to expand...

I dont have a job, and im not even 16 either. Just save your money for whats right. I saved my money for a X850xt. I got mine for $250 - $50 mail in rebate.
 
RobcioPL
I dont have a job, and im not even 16 either. Just save your money for whats right. I saved my money for a X850xt. I got mine for $250 - $50 mail in rebate.
Click to expand...

Why should I save my money, which, will take a while to get $350+, when I can buy a card that accomplishes everything the 850XT does for half the price? Plus, there is no AGP 4x/8x X850xt in stock or even showing up in NewEgg, and that's the only place I'll buy my video cards from online.
 
It doesn't accomplish everything the X850 xt does...that's why it's half the price. :)
 
MachOne
Why should I save my money, which, will take a while to get $350+, when I can buy a card that accomplishes everything the 850XT does for half the price? Plus, there is no AGP 4x/8x X850xt in stock or even showing up in NewEgg, and that's the only place I'll buy my video cards from online.
Click to expand...

This card doesnt even have a chance against any X800 series card.

You should think about getting this card too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150096
 
RobcioPL
This card doesnt even have a chance against any X800 series card.

You should think about getting this card too: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150096
Click to expand...

But look, if it will run FarCry on the highest settings, it's fine. I don't need some uber $1,400,302 (exaggeration) video card that is going to get me 500 frames per second in games. All I need is a normal framerate at the highest settings. From what people are saying, this card will accomplish that. And the 6600 you posted requires a 350W PSU, which I don't have and won't be spending money to get.
 
MachOne
But look, if it will run FarCry on the highest settings, it's fine. I don't need some uber $1,400,302 (exaggeration) video card that is going to get me 500 frames per second in games. All I need is a normal framerate at the highest settings. From what people are saying, this card will accomplish that. And the 6600 you posted requires a 350W PSU, which I don't have and won't be spending money to get.
Click to expand...
I run my X850xt on a 300w power supply, no problems, i guess its a good quality one.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
The x850xt uses more power than the 6600gt.
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Depends on the manufacturer and the design of the card really, unless we're comparing a 7800 GT to some extremely low-tech card.

I can't even find an x850 on newegg in AGP form, just an x800 All In Wonder which is also about $300. Really, an X1600 is all I need.

And see, I have a 300W PSU that came with my computer. A 350W minimum probably means 300W is pushing it. I don't want to blow my PSU (which can also screw up the rest of my system).
 
MachOne
Depends on the manufacturer and the design of the card really, unless we're comparing a 7800 GT to some extremely low-tech card.

I can't even find an x850 on newegg in AGP form, just an x800 All In Wonder which is also about $300. Really, an X1600 is all I need.

And see, I have a 300W PSU that came with my computer. A 350W minimum probably means 300W is pushing it. I don't want to blow my PSU (which can also screw up the rest of my system).
Click to expand...

Well actually, the manual from the graphics card says 300W minimum :)
 

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